Signs of the Times

Last night I was watching Conan O'Brien, something I seldom do. Conan was interviewing an MMA female fighter Ronda Rousey, who admitted her plan is to make enough money, and then build a self preservation reservation for the apocalypse. She talked about having chickens, bufflo, gardens, and so forth. What is fascinating is that even the secular people are aware that we are at the end of days. Once upon a time people who held card board cut outs that read, "The End is Near" were mocked and ignored, now they have shows like "Doomsday Preppers" and are lauded as normal. This is a sign of the times. We who know the truth, that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:10, 12, 1 Timothy 2:13) and are preparing for the worst persecution in history of the church and mankind (Matthew 24:21), know all the details (see 2 Thessalonians 2, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, Luke 13, and Revelation 8, 9, 13, 18, and 19).

Right now in countries, a chip is being implanted in people and replacing all forms of identification and currency. In India, the chip was introduced, and all cash and metal currency was abolished. I know this from friends who live in India and here in United States, they shared how the poor who have no bank accounts and only cash under their mattresses are starving. In Sweden companies are now having people get chipped instead of carrying ID. We can see that this is all leading to invitable, "And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name." (Revelation 13:17). The technology has arrived, and because the world now has a global economy, and all goods and currencies are in cyberspace, it is possible to take over the whole world's buying and selling in a way that neither the Roman Empire, or even the Nuclear Age of the Cold War could.

The Church should be ready, we know what is going to happen if we read our bibles, "See, I have warned you about this ahead of time," (Matthew 24:25) and, "So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." (Mark 13:23). Jesus and His Apostles have already warned us and given us intricate and comprehensive details of what will happen in the Last Days and End Times. Ironically what is confirming The Bible and the Church to be right is the world. Secular people are preparing for the apocalypse. One cannot watch an Insurance commercial (advertisement) and not be told about a Zombie Apocalypse. The series "The Walking Dead" and other shows depict a dystopian and apocalyptic futures. The Walking Dead alone is on its ninth season and has huge fan base. The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins and adapted to film with Jennifer Lawrence starring as Katniss depicted a Beast regime like future where districts of civilization are oppressed by a Capital and they are all chipped and put in Hunger Games (Gladiatorial Arena). The Science Fiction and Fantasy masters are aware of the times, but all their preparations, including the MMA fighter on Conan will come to nothing, because the only protection in Last Days is this, "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death," (Revelation 12:10-11), and "And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made--the Book that belongs to the Lamb (is Jesus Christ see John 1:29) who was slaughtered." (Revelation 13:8). It is the blood of Jesus (the Lamb) that will protect you and salvation is if you are written in Lamb's book of Life which is achieved if you do the following, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Romans 10:9-10) and " For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son (Jesus) and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40). Crops will not save a person, nor cutting axes, and underground caves. For it is written, "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ' Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!," (Revelation 6:15-16), "And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them," (Revelation 9:6), and "They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him." (Revelation 16:9). A secular person will not be saved if they continue to not repent and build reservations and stock pile like the Doomsday Peppers.


The only consolation that secular people and the media are obsessed with the End of Days is that is confirms even the most spiritual dull and darkened are aware. For as the Apostle Paul said, "For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." (Romans 1:20). The problem is that these secular not only don't know the way of salvation (John 14:6), but they are also idolatrous people who worship fallen angels called gods, participating in their rituals from Kabbalah to Horoscopes to Yoga, and so all their doomsday prepping will do little good, for Jesus when He returns says, "But the cowardly (those who cower and will not confess Jesus Christ as Lord and live for Him in Greek), the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral (all sexual acts from bestiality to Homosexuality to fornication, pornography and so on), those who practice magic arts (from sooth saying to black magic and beyond), the idolaters (worshipping any god, angel, animal, or being that is not Trinity of Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit) and all liars (generally this in Greek is someone who conjures a spirit of lying, who manipulates with emotions and other crafts to steal money and hurt others)--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8). In order to survive the Apocalypse, people need to believe and confess the Alpha and Omega, Jesus Christ as Lord God and believe He was raised from dead by God (Trinity) [Romans 19:9-10]. Then any prepping will be an additional bonus, but I must warn people there are different groups in the Last Days. The first are martyrs, "When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?” Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them," (Revelation 6:9-11), the second those who go to prison and the third militia or warriors, "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed," This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people." (Revelation 13:10), fourth is people who die to escape the latter parts of End, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!" (Revelation 14:13), and finally there is a group of the Elect who are supernaturally protected, "They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads," (Revelation 9:4) and "Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world." (Revelation 3:10). It becomes apparent that building a garden, and self sustaining geo-eco shelter is not a bad idea, but it is no guarantee, only Jesus who is God can ensure with you survive, and for some surviving isn't the best, rather dying is a plus or gain, "For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me," (Philippians 1:20-23) because then you get to return with Jesus at final judgement (Revelation 19:11-16). Those who are going to make it through the whole End of Days are rewarded, "I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," (Revelation 7:14), and, "To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations." (Revelation 2:26, cross ref Matthew 24:13). It is not going to be a day at beach or ice cream cone, it will be persecution as its never been before, "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be," (Matthew 24:21 ESV). If you are going to doomsday prep, do so spiritually first, "(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame.”)," (Revelation 16:15 AMP), and "So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return." (Matthew 25:13).Food will in some cases be impossible to protect (see Revelation 8 and 9). As for William Divan and the gold, it will be worthless, "They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath (Revelation 19:11-16). It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin." (Ezekiel 7:19, cross ref Revelation 19:11-16 and Revelation 9:6 and Revelation 6:15-16), and "And the beast (Antichrist, Man of Lawlessness) was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name," (Revelation 13:7,17).


I do not mean to paint a bleak future, there is hope (Titus 2:13) and comfort (2 Corinthians 1:1-10). I merely want people to understand a garden and Zombie proof bunkers are not salvation. Salvation is found only in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:10,12). We Christians have this hope, we do not have to worry if we die, for to die is gain,"I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me,"(Philippians 1:23), "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in Me, even if he should die, he will live. and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?," (John 11:25-26), "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day," (John 6:40, see also John 10:30 and John 17:20-23), "Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory," (2 Corinthians 15:54), and, "What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position "a little lower than the angels"; and because he suffered death for us, he is now "crowned with glory and honor." Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone." (Hebrews 2;9). We will be raised from dead (John 6:40, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, Revelation 20:12-13), and so for us to live is to share our testimony (the Gospel with our personal story) and to die is to be with Jesus Christ. While everyone else loses their heads and minds over prepping for the last days, we will have the peace that surpasses all understanding (Phillippians 4:7) and the trust that if we live it is to serve God's purpose, if we die it is to go and be with God tell he raises us from dead. So take heart, there is nothing to fear long as you cling to Christ and keep believing (trusting) and confessing Him to the end. (Matthew 24:13).